Desk arrangement.



J. J. DONOVAN.

DESK ARRANGEMENT. APPLICATION man DECAL I918.

HEET x.

Patented Apr. 2 SHEETS-S N J Z Z 1.1. DONOVAN.

DESK ARRANGEMENT. APPLICATION FILED 0:12.12, 1918.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR Jo/efl .Iflonayan BY 24 A @ZMM ATTORN EYS m2 uonms PETERS my, Macro-rum. 1- Numcmm JoHN J. DoNovAN, or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

I DESK ARRANGEMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

Application filed December 12, 1918. Serial No. 266,403.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN J. DONOVAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Desk Arrangements, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relatesto school furniture, and particularly to a desk construction which permits a novel seating arrangement within'the class rooms.

To obtain the best possible lighting and hygienic conditions when constructing school buildings, and particularly when laying out the class rooms, it is required that about of the exterior wall surface shall be allowed for the transmission of daylight. The windows thus provided are generally placed along the outer wall, and, as the desks and aisles generally run parallel with the outer wall, it'can readily be seen that the pupils occupyingthe rows nearest the windows are exposed to excessive light, and, as the light,-practically speaking, en'- ters at right angles to the line of vision, it has been found that it is more or less injurious to the eye-sight, as' a considerable amount of light penetrates the corners of the eyes of the pupils when they are'studying and also when sitting in an erect position.

Furthermore, the pupils seated in these rows from the center to the rear are particularly affected because of'the great amount of glass area positioned to the left and in front of them. This is still more pronounced when the windows extend to the front wall of the room, which is often the case where the rooms are short-in length in order to provide the required amount of light for the room. Practically two-thirds of the pupils would, in that case, be affected. Again, where the desks are arranged in parallel rows with the teachers desk at the front, and almost always in the center position, it is necessary for the pupils in the outer rows, when giving their attention to the teacher, either to turn the head or the body to give the proper attention. Two

obvious defects are thus apparent, first, im-

proper positioning with relation to the rays of light entering the room, and, secondly, improper positioning of the pupils in the outer rows when giving their attention to the teacher.

One of the objects of the present inven tion is to provide a desk and seat which are so constructed that the above defects will be obviated, said desk and seat being adapted to be positioned on an angle with relation to the row formation of the desks and still maintain the row formation, thus per mitting the pupils in the outerrows to give the teacher their attention without turnmg the head or body and also permitting the pupils in the rows nearest the windows to be exposed to all the light required without aflecting their eye-sight. -Another ob I jeot of the invention is to provide a desk of rhomboidal form, said desks having their ends parallel with the aisleand the-corners rounded to prevent danger or njury to the teacher and pupils when: using the aisles.

The invention consists ofthe parts and the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which V Figure 1 is aplan view of a school room in which the desks are constructed andv arranged according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is'a plan view of a series of desks and seats. I Fig. 3 is .a side seat.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A indicates a base member of suitable construction on which is formed or otherwise secured a pair of pedestals 2 and 3,,the pedestal 2 being provided for the support of the desk indicated at 4: and the pedestal 8 for the support of the seat shown at 5-.

The formation of the desk proper, and particularly the top thereof, is one of the important features of-the present invention. By referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the desk top is rhomboidal in form and that the seat 5 employed in connection therewith is so positioned that its longitudinal axis is arranged substantially at right angles to the longer side of the rhomboid, and that the ends 7 of the desk top are parallel with the aisle. It can therefore be seen that each pupil in the row will face the teacher without turning the head or body and also that the light entering through the windows will not have a tendency to excessively penetrate the corners of the eyes, as the light rays are, pracelevation of a desk .and

tically speaking, entering the room over the pupils left-hand shoulder. Again, these addisturbing the parallel aisle and row forma tionsandwithout subjecting the teacher or pupils to danger when using the aisles, as

the ends of the desksareparalle'l With-theaisles and the corners are rounded,,as.showni From the foregoing, it will be notedth'at very much less direct light Will enter the eyesof the pupilsseated 'at this form of desk" when studying and when :the-headjs in room. A further-"advantage'lies iirthe possibilityxofa placing "the: teachers desk-closer to the Wallfoppositethe; Windows so that the third. and: fourth rows of desks could also be rhomboidalinform. Thisshould mate-7 rially increase the' number. of pupils aided favorably. Advantages could? also. be extended to lessening the cost in construction of the building and in simplifying'the planning and design. At the present time it is considered" necessary 'to provide a solid Wall at the front and right of the desks sothat daylight is obstructed: from entering at this angle. This requires juggling o-f'the exterior surface anall interior areasand. often adjds small rooms at the ends of the build ing in order 'to-obtain symmetry in the ex teri'or design;

Whilethe drawings show rhomboidal desk's' irr-the outer two rows nearest the Win doWs, it is obvious that they may be employedin as miany; rows desired'or Wherever desired. Again, by referring'to' Fig. 2 it will be seen that the acute angle of the rhombus is marked 14. This may, how-' ever, be varied to suit existing conditions.

I also-Wish it understood that While a specific form of desk and seat support is here shown, it should be obvious that this may be changed; similarly, that the mate-' 1. The-tcombination ofla plurality of rows 7 of'desks withzintermediateaisles, each desk -1 with: its individual seat; the: locus ofthe ends" of any row of deskslying inia sub: stantially right: lineparallel. With the. aisle, a seat' arrangement for each? desk. with the longitudinal axis of the. seatasubstantially'at 1 i right angles to desk;

2. A;- desk adapted formation, said desk being di'sp'osed on an the back of, its particular anglev With'relation. to the row fonnation 1- butlhavingits ends parallel WithI-the lmeof rowformation, anda-seat forr eachades'kf-in to be-a-rrangedlin row f the row, said seat having i'tsIlongitudinal axis substantially at: right angles to the longer side of the desk...

3; In school'furniture;.the combinationof a desk and a. seat, said deskandseat adapted to be: arranged in lineal arowformation, said desk having; a top of rhomboidal form and havingitsends parallel with the linear row .1

formation,' and said seati having its longi tudinal'axis substantially: at right: angles. to i the longer side of the rhom-boid.

' In testimony whereof IF'have" hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

Witnesses p K. C. SULLIVAN, C. E. MULVAN-EY.

coptessoitthh patentimay:he -obtained for five. cents ma by-addressing tl re" (tominiss'ioixer otrlateatw washin tonm; a." g g r 

